Smart Card Overview
What is a smart card?
A smart card is a standard-sized plastic card with an embedded integrated circuit chip which has memory and/or microprocessor functionality.
What are the advantages of smart cards over proximity cards?
The advantages of smart card over proximity cards are:
- Smart cards provide a higher level of security using encryption keys
- They support multiple applications such as vending, fare collection, parking on a single card
- Smart cards can have information written to them in real time
- Smart Cards have larger storage memory capacity to store biometric templates
What is the difference between contact and contactless smart cards?
The main difference between the two is the method in which the data is transferred from the card to the reader. In the contact card, the contact (or chip) on the card must physically touch the matching contacts in a card slot on the reader. In the contactless card, the card only needs to be near the reader as the transmission of data is through radio frequency.
What is ISO?
ISO (International Standards Organization) is a network of the national standards institutes of 148 countries that acts as a bridging organization in which a consensus can be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society, such as the needs of stakeholder groups like consumers and users. The widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers can base the development of their products and services on specifications that have wide acceptance in their sectors. This, in turn, means that businesses using International Standards are increasingly free to compete on many more markets around the world
What are the different ISO standards?
The ISO 14443 Type A (ISO 14443A) contactless card was originally intended to be a memory card only. However, microprocessor and cryptographic cards have been developed for Type A. The most common Type A cards are referred to as MIFARE cards.
ISO 14443 Type B (ISO 14443B) contactless card was originally intended to be microprocessor version of Type A. Again, the memory and cryptographic options have been added for Type B thereby creating competition between Type A and Type B cards. The Type B cards are not as commonly deployed as Type A cards.
ISO 15693 vicinity card technology was developed in response to the industry's need for a greater operational distance than ISO 14443 cards with a minimum read range of 10 cm. The data rate, however, is somewhat slower.
What is MIFARE®?
MIFARE is a contactless smart card technology owned by Philips. The MIFARE technology is based on ISO 14443A operating at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.
What is the advantage of MIFARE over other smart card technology?
MIFARE is a proven, reliable, and robust technology for contactless smart card with 250 million cards in the field. It is an open architecture platform that guarantees compatibility with current and future products. The MIFARE technology has an established customer base and the broadest range of suppliers providing multiple sources for cards and readers.
HID iCLASS® is an example of another contactless smart card technology that is based on a proprietary architecture. Although HID iCLASS supports multiple applications, the implementation of this technology is not as seamless and flexible as MIFARE. In addition, the chip and antenna module for both the card and reader can only be purchased through a single source (iCLASS from HID).
What is MAD?
MAD is an acronym for MIFARE Application Directory. To maintain the speed and convenience of MIFARE's tap-and-go operation, the MIFARE Application Directory (MAD) standard defines common data structures for card application directory entries, allowing terminals to identify the right card -and the right memory sector within the card - without the need to perform a comprehensive search through all of the cards' memories until the appropriate application is found.
What is AID?
The AID is an acronym for Application IDentifier. The MAD standard uses registered Application IDentifiers (AIDs) in sector 0x00 (and sector 0x10 if applicable) of the card's memory to enable identification of all registered card applications. Terminal software can then take advantage of this feature using these sector pointers instead of physical sector addresses.
Software House has a registered 51 20 AID from Philips for access control application.
What is the memory size of the MIFARE card?
The MIFARE Standard card has 1K byte (8192 bits) memory capacity.
How many sectors are in a MIFARE card?
The MIFARE Standard card has 16 sectors; each sector has 64 bytes (512 bits) of memory. The sector contains 4 blocks with each block containing 16 bytes (128 bits).
What is a smart card serial number? Is it encrypted?
Each smart card contains an integrated chip with a unique permanent identification (UID) number burned-in during the manufacturing process. This UID is often referred to as the Card Serial Number (CSN). The card serial number is not encrypted and any reader that is ISO compliant can read the card serial number.
Is the MIFARE data encrypted?
In Block 3 of each sector, there is a set of 48-bit encryption keys: Key A (READ) and Key B (WRITE). These keys lock the sector data. When presenting the matching READ key, the reader unlocks the sector data and outputs the physical access credential to the panel.